Michael Rowan-Robinson's home page

address:	Astrophysics Group The Blackett Laboratory Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine Prince Consort Road London SW7 2AZ United Kingdom
phone:	+44 207 594 7530
fax:	+44 207 594 7541
email:	mrr

I work in the Astrophysics Group of Imperial College in London.
My current projects include:

The SPITZER SWIRE Survey

(SWIRE)

The SWIRE consortium (PI Carol Lonsdale, Deputy PI Michael Rowan-Robinson) consists of astronomers from IPAC, UCSD, Imperial, Sussex, IAC Tenerife, Padova and other institutions in the US and Europe, and has carried out a Legacy Survey with SPITZER of 49 sq deg of sky.

A paper on spectral energy distributions, photometric redshifts and luminosities of infrared galaxy populations in the SWIRE Survey in EN1 and Lockman-VF , together with Fig 3 from that paper, can be found here. A paper on photometric redshifts in the SWIRE Survey, together with the full Photometric Redshift Catalogue can be found here.

The UK SCUBA Survey (SHADES)

The UK SCUBA Survey consortium consisted of Michael Rowan-Robinson (PI), Steve Serjeant, Andreas Efstathiou and Matthew Fox (Imperial College), James Dunlop, Andy Lawrence, John Peacock, Susie Scott (Edinburgh), Rob Ivison (UCL), David Hughes (Mexico), Andrew Blain, Malcolm Longair (Cavendish), Seb Oliver (Sussex). A pilot survey was carried out in HDF-N and reached a 5-sigma limit of 2 mJy at 850 microns (Hughes et al 1996).
Subsequently a larger survey of 200 sq arcminutes was carried out to a 3-sigma limit of 8 mJy in the ELAIS N1 areas, and in the Lockman-E area. Currently a survey of 0.5 sq deg is being carried out by a large consortium, SHADES , (PI James Dunlop), consisting of Edinburgh, Imperial, Cardiff, Sussex, Kent, Durham, Oxford, Nottingham, Cambridge, Caltech, INOAO and the BLAST Consortium.

Full resolution
SCUBA map of HDF-N at 850 microns.

Models for source-counts and background at submillimetre, infrared and optical wavelengths

A simple and versatile parameterized approach to the star formation history allows a quantitative investigation of the constraints from far infrared and submillimetre counts and background intensity measurements. The models include four spectral components: infrared cirrus (emission from interstellar dust), an M82-like starburst, an Arp220-like starburst and an AGN dust torus. The 60 $\mu$m luminosity function is determined for each chosen rate of evolution using the PSCz redshift data for 15000 galaxies. The proportions of each spectral type as a function of 60 $\mu$m luminosity are chosen for consistency with IRAS and SCUBA colour-luminosity relations, and with the fraction of AGN as a function of luminosity found in 12 $\mu$m samples. The luminosity function for each component at any wavelength can then be calculated from the assumed spectral energy distributions. With assumptions about the optical seds corresponding to each component and, for the AGN component, an assumed dependence of the dust covering factor on luminosity, the optical and near infrared counts can be accurately modelled. High and low mass stars are treated separately, since the former will trace the rate of star formation, while the latter trace the cumulative integral of the star formation rate. A good fit to the observed counts at 0.44, 2.2, 15, 60, 90, 175 and 850 $\mu$m can be found with pure luminosity evolution in all 3 cosmological models investigated: $\Omega_o$ = 1, $\Omega_o$ = 0.3 ($\Lambda$ = 0), and $\Omega_o$ = 0.3, $\Lambda$ = 0.7. All 3 models also give an acceptable fit to the integrated background spectrum. Selected predictions of the models, for example redshift distributions for each component at selected wavelengths and fluxes, are shown. The efect of including an element of density evolution is also investigated. The total mass-density of stars generated is consistent with that observed, in all 3 cosmological models.

Full details of predicted counts, background and redshift distributions for wavelengths from 0.44 to 1250 mu at models

Details of predicted counts and redshifted distributions for revised models, incorporating density evolution to improve the optical and near infrared counts, by King and Rowan-Robinson (2002, MN, astro-ph/0209375) are given here

Radiative transfer models for infrared and submm seds

Details of models for starbursts, described in Efstathiou, Rowan-Robinson and Siebenmorgen (2000, MN 313,734), can be found at rad.transf.models
A paper on cirrus models for local and high redshift cirrus models can be found here, and details of the models can be found at cirrus models

Photometric redshifts

Photometric redshift catalogues for HDF-N, HDF-S and HFF, and a paper on the local ultraviolet luminosity-density and dust extinction in nearby galaxies can be found at photometric redshifts

HERSCHEL-SPIRE

The IC group will lead one of the Data Processing and Science Analysis Software Centres for the SPIRE instrument on the HERSCHELsatellite, due to be launched by ESA in 2007. HERSCHEL will be the first submm observatory, offering full access to the 80-700 micron waveband, with a 3.5m telescope operating at L2.

SPIRE, the Spectral and Photometric Imaging REceiver, will have 3 bolometer arrays and a Fourier Transform Spectrometer covering the wavelength range 200-700 microns.

PLANCK-HFI

The IC group is developing data analysis algorithms and software for the PLANCK Surveyor satellite project to be launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) around 2007. Planck Surveyor will make high resolution maps of the microwave sky, enabling many parameters of cosmology to be determined to high precision. The objectives of the data analysis being investigated by the London Planck Analysis Centre (LPAC) are to calibrate the signals from the detectors, use these signals to reconstruct the pointing of the satellite as a function of time, to remove glitches due to cosmic-ray hits on the detectors and to identify point-sources (due to emission from other galaxies) from the time-ordered data.

London Planck Analysis Centre (LPAC)
Planck homepage
CPAC
MPA CMB resource page
TAC CMB page